Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi accused U.S. President Donald Trump of holding the government hostage over his “obsession” with forcing Americans to pay for what she termed an “expensive and ineffective” border wall.
Mrs. Pelosi called the current partial government shutdown “senseless” and said it has been full of “misinformation and malice” from the president.
Mrs. Pelosi was joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in delivering a response from Democrats to Trump’s speech to the nation.
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Schumer charged that Trump used the Oval Office to “manufacture’’ a crisis.
He, however, called on him to sign bills that would fund the government and let it re-open while negotiations over border security to proceed.
dpa/NAN
